Atlanta City Council Could Vote on New Stadium Monday

The Atlanta City Council is scheduled to meet Monday afternoon and could vote to move forward with plans of a new Falcons stadium.

Although the stadium is not on the agenda of topics to be discussed during Monday’s session, the subject matter may still be brought up.

If agreed upon by the council, the city would embark upon a plan to put down $200 million in hotel-motel tax revenue in order to build the $1 billion retractable roof facility.

“This will be one of the best stadium deals of its type in the country, bar none. And we’re actually getting more out of the deal than we would if we were to renovate the existing dome,” Atlanta City Councilman Michael Julian Bond told WAGA.

Some believe the stadium deal is being rushed and are hesitant about moving forward.

“We are talking about a proposal that was put on the city council halfway through this week that’s an inch thick. And there’s no way that they could possibly read through it, retain it, understand everything in it and vote on it as quickly as this thing is moving forward,” William Perry of Common Cause, a watchdog group, said.

The proposal was announced 11 days ago and has already been approved by the Georgia World Congress Center Authority. The only potential road blocks after the City Council’s approval would be Friendship and Mount Vernon Baptist Churches, two places of worship that would have to be bought out and moved.

“Once we do have a proposal from the city, that will be something we will bring forward to the congregation to review, discuss and then vote,” Lloyd Hawk of Friendship Baptist Church said.

If the churches refuse to be bought out, the city may possibly look into an alternate location north of the Georgia World Congress Center.